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Poland-VN ties strengthened as EU enlarged (03-05-2005) Viet Nam News interviewed Polish Ambassador to Viet Nam Miroslaw Gajewski on the occasion of his country's National Day and the 55th anniversary of Viet Nam-Poland diplomatic ties. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Poland-Viet Nam diplomatic ties. What has characterised the relationship between the two countries? Despite the vast geographical distance Poland and Viet Nam are linked by many years of close friendship and co-operation. Polish people are proud of the fact that for many years this close co-operation was market by achievements of thousands of Vietnamese specialists who have been educated in Poland and Poland's active presence in Viet Nam as well as mutual support of our nations during all the difficult years after World War II. The 55th anniversary of our diplomatic relations witnessed remarkable changes in the world's and Europe's political situation. The political map of the world has … [Read more...] about Poland-VN ties strengthened as EU enlarged

EU leaders will try to show at a crunch summit starting Wednesday that they have finally brought the financial crisis under control, eager to revive flagging confidence in shell-shocked banks. Desperate to contain the crisis, governments across Europe have pledged about 2.0 trillion euros (2.7 trillion dollars) to bring banks back from the brink of collapse. Leaders from the 27-nation European Union, meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels, are due to rally behind plans hammered out on Sunday among eurozone countries to tackle the crisis. "The stakes are higher than ever before and the coming days will be crucial for the international financial community," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters in London on Tuesday. "It will take time -- and these are tough times -- for us to resolve the problems that have emerged in the banking system. The resolve of our leaders will be put to the test in the coming days," he said. In emergency talks in Paris, leaders from the 15 … [Read more...] about EU Leaders Seek Upper Hand on Financial Crisis at Summit

EU criticism of Russia's rights record and fears Moscow will delay its WTO entry clouded EU-Russia talks Wednesday, but the two sides aligned on climate issues ahead of a key summit in December. Russia agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, raising its target from 15 percent and aligning itself with the EU's objectives, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said. "With the Copenhagen conference (on climate issues) starting in just over two weeks, we have made very important progress today," he said. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev did not comment on the new emissions target, but a source in the Russian delegation quoted by Russian news agency Interfax confirmed Medvedev had revealed the proposal during the talks in Stockholm. He hopes to meet the target by improving Russian factories' energy efficiency by 40 percent, the source said. The EU has vowed to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, raising … [Read more...] about EU-Russia summit sees climate progress, rights row

Vietnam's exports to EU are set to continue struggling in 2013. The export value of many Vietnamese exports to EU would slide further in 2013, according to head of Ministry of Industry and Trade's European Market Department Dang Hoang Hai. This was flagged through sharp declines in the export earnings of a number of key Vietnamese exports to EU like textiles and garments, seafood and wooden furniture in the first 10 months whereas the forecast for 2013's first half remains gloomy. According to deputy director Nguyen Hoai An at wholly foreign-owned shoe-maker Rieker Vietnam in central Quang Nam province's Dien Nam-Dien Ngoc Industrial Park, the company's order intake to EU shed 10 per cent in the year ending October compared to corresponding period in 2011. Scores of other textile and clothing firms also face shrinking orders. Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association figures show that Vietnam gained $2.1 billion from textile and garment export only in the first 10 months of 2012, down … [Read more...] about Next year to offer little good news for exports to EU

EU finance ministers were set on Tuesday to take a key step towards a new bank regulatory framework with final clearance of a single supervisor regime. LUXEMBOURG: EU finance ministers took a key step on Tuesday towards a 'Banking Union', the new regulatory framework meant to prevent any repeat of the financial meltdown which plunged Europe into crisis. Ministerial approval of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), "the first pillar of Banking Union ... is a momentous step", EU Financial Markets Commissioner Michel Barnier said., It is "the start of a new era for the supervision of Eurozone banks" Barnier said. The SSM, 13 months in the making, will come into force in one year's time, in accordance with EU practice. It was originally supposed to start early next year but the timetable slipped amid sharp differences over its precise role and especially over how it would relate to non-euro EU countries. Non-euro Britain led the doubters given concerns over London's future as one … [Read more...] about EU finance ministers to agree new bank supervisor system

LONDON: Millions of Britons voted on Thursday (Jun 23) on whether to stay in the EU or quit, in a momentous referendum that has polarised the country and could change the face of Europe. Polls have closed at 2100 GMT (5.00am Singapore time Friday), after a close-fought and often vitriolic campaign focused on immigration, the economy and Britain's very identity. A record 46.5 million people registered to vote in the once-in-a-generation referendum being nervously watched across Europe and the world. European leaders fear a so-called Brexit would trigger the biggest crisis in the 60-year history of post-war integration on the continent. The final opinion polls put the "Remain" camp narrowly ahead and financial markets duly bet on a vote to stay Thursday, with world stocks surging and the pound hitting its highest level this year. London's benchmark FTSE 100 share index closed up 1.2 per cent at 6,338.1 points, while key eurozone indices in Frankfurt and Paris forged even higher, at … [Read more...] about Stay or go? Britain decides in EU vote

​LONDON: A top anti-Brussels campaigner said it appeared Britain had narrowly voted to remain in the EU, as counting began on Thursday (Jun 23) after millions voted in a bitterly-fought historic referendum. A record 46.5 million people registered to vote in the once-in-a-generation referendum, many of them facing torrential rain, floods, and cancelled trains to take a momentous decision that is being watched across Europe and the world. Nigel Farage, leader of the pro-"Leave" UK Independence Party, told Sky News that it "looks like Remain will edge it" just as polls closed after a vitriolic battle focused on immigration, the economy and Britain's very identity. After an "extraordinary" campaign, it looked like turnout had been "exceptionally high", he said. Turnout in the tiny British outpost of Gibraltar was 84 per cent, according to BBC News. One of the final surveys, a YouGov survey, indicated a 52-48 per cent advantage for the "Remain" camp, led by Prime Minister David Cameron who … [Read more...] about Top Brexit leader hints Britain to stay in EU as polls close

(VOVworld) – The Western Balkans Summit opens on Thursday in Vienna. State leaders, ministers, and high-ranking officials from EU member states will discuss regional cooperation and the Western Balkans region’s possibility to join the EU. Another major topic of the summit will be the migration crisis in Europe in Europe.
European countries have been shaken by a surge of immigrants from the Middle East, northern Africa, and the western Balkan region. Migration has inflated social and security pressures on the EU’s flagging economies.
The worst migration crisis
The EU is facing the worst migration crisis since World War Two. The EU’s border agency reports that since the beginning of 2015 about 102,000 migrants have entered the EU via Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, and Hungary, much higher than last year’s 8,000 people.
Hungary has been the center of the refugee crisis as it’s located at the periphery of … [Read more...] about EU faces refugee challenge

BRUSSELS: The EU turned the screw on US tech giants on Wednesday (Oct 4), ordering Amazon to repay Luxembourg €250 million in back taxes and taking Ireland to court for failing to collect billions from Apple.
Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager accused tiny Luxembourg of an illegal deal with internet shopping giant Amazon to pay less tax than other businesses. (Photo: AFP/Leon Neal)
Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager accused tiny Luxembourg of an illegal deal with internet shopping giant Amazon to pay less tax than other businesses.
The two cases are part of a wider offensive by the EU on Silicon Valley behemoths as Europe seeks ways to regulate them more tightly on issues ranging from privacy to taxation.
"Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon. As a result, almost three … [Read more...] about EU hammers Amazon, Apple over taxes

Police in Italy believe traffickers made some $3m (£1.9m; €2.5m) from 359 illegal migrants found abandoned on a cargo ship in the Mediterranean.
The Ezadeen was towed into the Italian port of Corigliano Calabro after being found by coast guards on Friday.
Most of those aboard appear to be Syrians, in the second such case involving a freighter this week.
Both ships reportedly started in Turkey, in a change from the Libyan route usually favoured by gangs.
The police chief of Cosenza province, Luigi Liguori, said each migrant had paid between $4,000 and $8,000 to board the ship.
Officers say that the smugglers wore hoods and locked the migrants in the ship's hold before apparently abandoning ship on a lifeboat.
In the earlier case, Italian coastguards boarded a ship, the Blue Sky M, carrying 796 migrants on Tuesday. Finding it without a crew, they steered it into the south Italian port of Gallipoli.
The smugglers' new tactic appears to be simple and effective: point a cargo … [Read more...] about EU migration: Traffickers ‘made $3m’ on ship to Italy